The Destiny of Shadows
by luckycharms88
Summary: The story of the forgotten boy, from his birth to his role in Ocarina Of Time. The story of Sheik's life. Yaoi will have a place in this story, but it is not the focus.
1. The Child That Never Should Have Been

The Destiny Of Shadows

By Luckycharms88

Prologue

The Child That Never Should Have Been

Sheila bustled about the house in a rush to get things done before the mistress got home. The mistress wasn't strict but she preferred to not have any reason for her to get mad at her. Which was no easy task considering that she was very far along in her pregnancy. The village midwife said she shouldn't be due for another month but she was looking ready to pop already. She hadn't picked any names yet but she was sure she would be a girl like all of her half-siblings.

But she hoped that one trait that she didn't share with the little misses of the house was there naughty nature. Having this child was more than a handful, a bad omen from he start. A bad omen but a loved one, she was awaiting motherhood with anticipation. Life may be hard for her, but she would do all she could to protect this child from any harm. Even the from the dangers of a jealous wife and taunting half siblings.

The mistress would never know, no matter what the cost, not for her own safety or the family's but for the baby and the master of the house. She loved both of them with all her heart, and would protect them with her life.

But right now she had too much work to do to be lazing around daydreaming. It would no do to have the mistress mad at her for something so trivial when she had been carrying on an affair with the master for so long.

Gwendolyn sashayed into the kitchen. She loved her life; she was rich, gorgeous and had three beautiful children. Though she didn't have the best husband or the son he longed for, her life was perfect. Jillian was just old enough for her to take to court with her so she could enjoy the glamour that came with royalty.

So of course she wasn't expecting to see Sheila, the cleaning maid, on the floor going through labor pains.

"Oh, dear! Are you all right? Should I send for the midwife?" Gwendolyn shrieked, alerting the rest of the house.

" No, I'm sure that…they are just false…contractions" Sheila assured her.

"But how could you know, you've never had a baby! It could be anything! I'm sending for the midwife anyways. Tobias would say the same, you're like family to us Sheila." Gwendolyn rushed out.

"Oh, Gwendolyn…" Sheila said guiltily, huffing through contractions. 'If only she knew.'

"A beautiful baby boy", the midwife shifted the small bundle to its mother. She looked curiously at his eyes and hair. "Curious shades for a baby of yours, I'd say."

Curious indeed, he had eyes of deep crimson, the same color of the blood that graced his veins. Not very surmising considering her heritage. Her grandmother was a full-blooded Sheikah. Nobody else in her family besides her cousin impa had ever received this legendary Sheikah trait. This child had the eyes and like all who had them, the special powers that came with them.

"good luck with the mistress, you'll need it." Said the mid wife drearily, and left the new mother alone.

But what's more curious are the golden hairs that came out of his head. Her own head was covered in dirt brown locks, nothing out of the norm. His locks were like his father's, like spun gold. And everyone would know once he was shown to the world. She couldn't hide him anymore. She would have to flee this mansion and all that he had worked for.

It was then that a grand man glided through the doorway and pushed the door closed behind him.

"No worries, she fell asleep hours ago, she wasn't made for this hour of the night." He whispered as he came to her side, to look upon his child for the first time.

"Here hold him now, before I must escape, he cannot be seen" she said hurriedly, her voice did not match her state, as she was exhausted.

" Why are you so glum nothing could be wrong with this child. " he said as he came to her side. "And 'he'? I have a son? Let me see him!"

She handed him their son, letting his features speak for themselves.

Tobias held the small bundle that held his son. He pushed away the blankets that covered the majority of his face. The scarlet, bleary eyes surprised him, but he was even more surprised by the blond hair that fell from the top of the baby's head.

"He will out us both, with those locks." He murmured to her.

"What will we do? I can't have a child with your hair! People already wonder who the father is! Now they won't have to look twice to see it's you! I won't have your wife look ashamed every time she see our son! I love you and him, so I will not ruin either of you lives." Sheila sobbed into the covers that surrounded her

"I won't let your lives be ruined either." Said Gwendolyn coming out from behind the slightly ajar door.

"Gwendolyn…I…I'm so…" Sheila stuttered at Gwendolyn. "I thought…you were asleep."

"This child will be the ruin of us all, it cannot be seen in this house ever again." Gwendolyn said sternly. "We need to act swiftly, before dawn, or this catastrophe might get out."

"But I have nowhere to go, and no money to support the baby with…" she choked

"Tobias will send you money monthly, after all it is his child" she spoke bitterly. "As for where, I believe there is an empty house in kakariko. Tobias will buy it for you. They wont know your face there, all of our reputations are safe, even the child's."

"I don't know what to say" Sheila whispered, feeling terribly guilty

"Then don't say anything, you aren't welcome here any more, gather your things as soon as you can stand." She said coldly. Gwendolyn couldn't manage to gather any sympathy for Sheila or the child. This woman who had stole her husband and the product of their joining. She was torn between her giving spirit and her jealousy.

As she left she venomously spat, "that child shouldn't have ever been!" and ran out the door.

"There is a horse and some supplies waiting outside, they should last you until you get settled…"

Tobias' deep baritone woke her from the half-sleep she had fallen into while waiting. How had it come to this? She and Tobias had always been the most careful, but even the most talented illusionists couldn't hide this.

"I will come to visit you around once a month, to deliver your allowance of 500 rupees." He paused, "sending a servant might lead to trouble."

"Oh, I see…" she said sadly.

"And how else will I see my son grow?" hearing his tone put a flutter in her heart. "Or see my love? I wouldn't be able to live with out seeing you ever again" he embraced her tightly. She closed her eyes to cherish the moment before pushing away gently.

"I must go, if I wait any longer the early risers might see me." She whispered, as though she as already sneaking out of town.

"Here… " He handed her a note and a small pouch, "for the bridge guards, you'll need it"

He walked her out to the mare he had saddled himself, a rare occurrence, and helped her on to the saddle. She handed him the child to hold once more before she left.

"We still haven't given him a name." She muttered absent-mindedly.

"Why don't we name him something that would be unique to him not me or you? A name that would be hard to trace to either of us."

"There is a common sheikah name that I think would suit him perfectly. It means 'shadow' when written in Hylian but it means 'destined one' in Sheikah. It's Sheik."

He chuckled, "but isn't that just Sheikah without the end? How can it mean so much?"

"The Sheikah are known as the 'shadow people', and as master spies, but they are also the protectors of the royal family, destined to protect the royal family with their lives." She took a deep breath. "It is a race built upon destiny."

"Than sheik it is, a grand name for a grand boy." He handed the newborn to his mother. " You must go now before the sun rises."

Gwendolyn watched fronted highest window in her grand house as he husband passionately wished Sheila and her babe goodbye.

"I hope I never see you again… and your child that never should have been."

Please read the next chapter! Reviewing is appreciated, and constructive criticism is encouraged. Thank you for reading my fanfic!


	2. The Boy That Cannot Be Seen

The Destiny Of Shadows

By Luckycharm88

Chapter One

The Boy That Cannot Be Seen 

"Mama! Mama, papa's down the road! I saw him! He's coming!" sheik shouted between breaths, his scarlet eyes alight with excitement.

Sheik had grown up like any other child in kakariko village, playing with the chickens that were scattered all around town, climbing over gravestone and running away from dampé the grave keeper. Now bordering the age of five he was bursting with energy.

Kakariko village was the perfect place for sheik to grow up, because the legends of the sheikah were told often in town due to the origin of the town. There was one lone Sheikah woman that lived in the once all-Sheikah town. This woman was sheila's aunt, who she didn't know very well and didn't intend to get to know her. The woman was to bossy for Sheila, but Sheila knew that Sheik could learn a lot from the old Sheikah woman. He needed to learn all the sheikah legends that were passed down, sheikah to sheikah, and he needed to learn about is gifts.

Sheikah gifts were a strange subject that not many knew much about. There were he first level gifts that every sheikah has, such as flash-travel and the 'sight.' The second level gifts were more complicated they were unique to each person, which made them very hard to learn to control. The third level gift was not the knowledge of anyone not sheikah, a mystery to herself

Sheik's eager face glowed with youthful happiness; Sheila couldn't help but smile at her son. "Then why don't we go meet him, I'd imagine he has a lot of goods he's carrying"

When coming for his monthly visits Tobias pretended to be a traveling merchant. This alibi was solid because he always had fine goods for Sheila and sheik, along with a good sum of money. Her "marriage" to Tobias was merely assumed by all of the townsfolk. Being the wife of merchant Tobias was easier to explain than any other option.

Tobias' wife had never really forgiven him, but they hadn't expected her to. But she had been surprisingly lenient with them by letting them continue seeing each other. Sheila expected that she had given up on any semblance of romance with her husband. Though she felt guilty, Sheila would not let go of Tobias if she had any choice.

"Yeah! Lets go meet papa!" he shouted before yanking her out of the house and down the steps that lead to the main road in town. Tobias was making his was down the small hill that was after the entrance to town. He was sweating from climbing up the insane amount of steps that lead into the town. "Papa! I missed you!"

"Sheik! Looks at you, another scab? What have I told you about climbing on the gravestones?" he teased his son, as Sheila took his pack.

"'Don't disrespect the spirits resting place' but I haven't seen any ghosts yet so I don't have worry about getting eaten!" he retorted "besides was running from dampé! And it wasn't a gravestone it was a rock on the ground, not a gravestone!"

"Is that so?" he said as he picked up sheik and set him on his shoulders.

They walked up the remaining steps to their small house near the mouth of death mountain trail. Like the real family that they pretended to be.

To sheik this was all real. He really thought that papa was a merchant and that mama and him met at a festival in hyrule castle market place. And that papa traveled all over hyrule selling gems and jewelry. They would tell him when it was absolutely necessary for him to know.

And until then, they would pretend.

" I had no idea hat you were turning five, honest!"

Tobias was playing with his son while Sheila made dinner, like he did on all the nights that he spent in kakariko. Tomorrow is sheik's fifth birthday; it was not a coincidence that he came to visit so close to the date.

"Well I guess I'll have to find something to give you for your birthday," he said while shuffling around in his leather pack. "After all, you are going to be five! Ah! There it is!" his arm came out carrying a square case, made of black shiny leather. "This shall be your birthday present along with lessons on how to use it.

"What is it? Something dangerous, a cross bows? What is it?" he jumped up and down with excitement.

"You can't open it until tomorrow. After all it's your birthday present!" Tobias said.

Sheik pouted, hoping that he might get his way. But it was in vain; Tobias was not going to go back on his decision. He would just have to wait, pout or no.

Tobias was getting ready to leave early the next morning as always. His excuse for leaving to his house was hat he left to go hunting game in eh forests surrounding the castle, and returning after nighttime was unheard of. She was preparing to leave, now, before dawn.

Sheila was rising just now, with the solemn acknowledgement that she must get up, make breakfast and wake sheik. This was a pattern that was always followed, it help deal with the separation they must endure each time he visited. The first few times it was hard but it got easier with time.

He didn't want it to get easier, he wanted it to stop. He was making a plan, one that would give him the freedom to leave this place with Sheila and sheik. His family didn't need him, didn't love like this one. They only wanted his fortune and his status.

His status. That wasn't even his anyways. His family was descendants of the composers flat and sharp. Famous throughout all of hyrule. He hadn't gotten the trait that usually ran in males in his family. They were usually great musicians. Composers, virtuosos, and improvisers, but no, never him. He never succeeded in music. And as an only son he was a shame to the family.

He hoped that sheik would find some enjoyment in music as all the other men in his family did. It was tradition to introduce a boy to music on his fifth birthday. He intended to follow up on that tradition, by starting sheik off with the best tutor available for sheik.

"Papa! Can I have my present now? It's my birthday now, so I can have it right?" he said in one breath, as though he had been awake for hours.

"Happy birthday my son!" he said as a feeling of joy overtook him. He would bring music back to his family, with this beautiful child. He lifted sheik up into his arms, and gaze into his perfect crimson eyes. "Today you shall take your first step to manhood." He set sheik down on the chair in front of the table. He pushed the black leather case that had been on the table all night towards sheik. "Open it, it's yours"

Sheik had some trouble opening the three latches on three sides of the case, the other side held together by hinges. The case was made of tough leather, with a coat of arms branded on top. Sheik finally managed to get all of the clasps undone, and lifted the opening to the case. The interior of the case was laid with cushioned velvet of the deepest black. There were supports and ties to hold on to its treasure.

And what a treasure it was. A harp, in all its glory, lay in the box. The frames of the instrument were gold-plated platinum, and in the soft metal were engraved the same coat of arms on the box. The thin strings were loosened from travel, but still gleamed with a delicate shine. The whole presentation was ethereal.

"This is mine?" sheik said, mesmerized by the grand instrument. There was no way that he could have something so grand. It was not his station in life to have such expensive things. Why for him?

"It is yours, but not to use now, for when you are big enough to use it. For now you will learn on another instrument." Tobias told his son as he gazed on the instrument. " This instrument is my family heirloom." He paused as Sheila gasped in surprise. "Until you are worthy of this beauty, you must train with another harp. You will be great with this instrument I'm sure." He hugged his son before walking out the door, about to leave. Sheila followed him out the door, and closed it behind her.

"That harp! Why now? Its your families, we can't have it!" Sheila said in a worried tone, itching with anger. "It even has your family insignia on it, what if someone sees it?" they continued walking towards the steps

"It is tradition in my family to give the harp to the first son on his birthday, and legitimate or not I will not deprive sheik of his music!" Tobias spoke passionately, as he stopped in his tracks and faced her. "I want sheik to be happy and I think that having music would make him happy!"

"Well he is also starting his sheikah training tomorrow! How can he train in music and in sheikah arts at the same time, it is to much for a boy his age!"

"He must train in music, it is in his blood!"

"So is sheikah, in case you haven't noticed! His eyes are still red and blood!"

"Mama! Papa! Stop fighting!" sheik whined from the doorway. He didn't like his mama and papa fighting; it was scary, especially because it was over him. "I can do both mama, I can! And papa I do want to do music! So please stop!" he was near tears.

Sheila and Tobias looked guiltily at sheik, and then to each other. Sheila walked over to sheik and picked the petit boy up. She hugged him close, trying to stop his pain, when she felt Tobias also hug sheik from the other side.

"Sheik…"

No one knows who said it, but they both knew something wasn't right.

So for six years, sheik studied music and the sheikah arts diligently. When he used to play, he would practice or study with his Aunt. When he used to bother his mother, he would practice one of the many instruments he was mastering or his train his voice. He was very focused, but still lively.

He excelled in his lessons more everyday. He was known as the prodigy of kakariko, at the age of eleven. No one wanted to force him, but no one wanted to stop him. He was the perfect child, quiet, sweet, and a hard worker. He was the envy of the town.

"Mama," sheik stuck his head through the doorway. He was small for his age, with a delicate frame. He was picked on once, for being a "momma's boy" but his self-defenses was solid, he was never picked on again. "I'm going to Aunt Minna's for training until dinner, I'll be back before sundown."

"That's fine sheik." Sheila spoke quietly, not looking up from her sewing. After she settled into Kakariko all those years ago, she took up sewing to pass the time and to make some money on the side. Not really needing to work because of her monthly allowance, she often made clothes for sheik even though he didn't grow that much. She was very proud of sheik, being the mother of the newest edition to the dying Sheikah race brought a lot of pride. She made him traditional Sheikah garments out of dark blues and blacks.

Between Sheikah training every day and practice, Sheik was very busy. Sheik studied music on his own most of the time. Going to Hyrule Castle Market once a month for a few days to get tutoring on his music was the only way he could get the best quality lessons. But for Sheikah training he didn't have to leave the village.

Sheik hurried over to the sheikah side of town. Aunt Minna was very old and never left her house, even to train him. She lived in a small house next to impa's large house, which had been built for Impa after she started to guard the princess. She was a rather bitter old lady but she had a soft spot for sheik.

"Aunt Minna!" sheik ducked into the small house, "what are we going to study today?" he sounded hopeful for something else

"Meditation of course. You already know basic flash travel. So what you need is a good long meditation" baa-Chan said, the same as always. He had been meditating for at least a month now.

Sheik inwardly groaned, "Aunt Minna I have no idea what I'm looking for. All I'm seeing is the back of my eyelids."

"All the better for you to look at them, so you will know when something else appears" she always said that, but he never had any idea what she meant.

"You'll know when you see it, trust in your eyes, they wont fail you, even at my age, I can trust them with my life." She said in her raspy voice.

"But my eyes are just like everyone else's, just a different color." He said with clear doubt in his voice, but still sat on the lone floor pillow.

"Just meditate. Clear your mind of all doubts, they won help you find what you seek", she rasped from her chair across the room. "You are looking for 'the sight'"

Sheik closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind, witch was a very hard thing to do. As he was always busy and focused, it was a challenge to be focused on nothing. But he tried his hardest like he did with everything that he did.

'Nothing…nothing…please…nothing' he tried to concentrate on those words.

"You concentrating on something… I can almost hear you pacing with your mind… slowdown and clear your mind. "

He slowed his mind down and slid into nothing, time flowed by like an endless river. It was the comfortable state that he always reached but never went past it. So he concentrated on the darkness that surrounded him. He didn't know how long it took but eventually the dark was no longer nothing but dark something. He searched and searched for something…anything understandable. He was deaf, blind and unfeeling, but he knew that there was something there, something.

It was then that he gave a reaching feeling with all of his being. His eyes shot open and he fell on his back out of the sitting position he was in on the cushion. He had lost all sense of self as his eyes glowed with a shine like rubies. His fair features were twisted in agony as he writhed on the floor.

Aunt Minna for once got out of her chair and sat on the abandoned cushion, and held the twitching, whimpering boy' head in her lap. She gathered the vial that she left on the table for this moment.

Blood dripped from eyes the same shade.

"You must bleed for your bloody eyes"

The next morning sheik woke up mysteriously in his own bed, with his head sorer than ever before. He blinked his eyes out of habit, before shutting them quickly. They didn't feel strained; they felt like they had been stabbed with fire.

"Mama? What happened? I remember being a Aunt Minna's training and…" Sheik groaned out as he tried to comprehend what was happening.

Sheila bustled into his corner. His corner was a space separated from the main room by one wall and a curtain. There was only one bedroom in their house, and that was Sheila's and Tobias'. Sheik had slept there since he was a child and saw no reason to move.

"She told me that your sheikah eyes just came in," Sheila said with pure joy, "I'm so proud of you sheik! Now you can carry on the sheikah line just like you wanted to! It's all so perfect!" she hugged him so hard he thought he lost all his air.

'This is what I want isn't it? To be recognized?'

Sheila spoiled her child all morning. So naturally he didn't notice the change.

When sheik left the house to go get his mother water from the well he wasn't expecting what he saw. The pain had faded by the time he had to leave the house. So he wasn't expecting to learn anything new until his eyes fully healed.

He had been walking down the steps, a wooden pail in hand when he turned the corner as usual. When he saw the well he was scared out of his mind by what he saw, or at least what he could make of what he was seeing. The well was _leaking. _A sort of glowing grey-blue fog seemed to be melting off of its normally slick stone. Before seeing it this way he had always wondered what the sign in front of it had meant. But it was obvious that there was something hidden about the well.

As calm as he could, he crept over to Aunt Minna's hut-like house. The second he entered he was surprised to see her doing something other than reading a book. She was embroidering, on what he could not tell.

He stuttered out, "Aunt Minna, what is that around the well? It was-"

"Glowing? Melting? It has been since before you were born sheik." Aunt Minna said grimly. "It's cursed."

"Cursed? Who cursed it? Why? It's a well!" sheik said surprised by this fact. He had been drinking from this well since from when he was a toddler. He had lived in kakariko his whole life.

"It's not who, it's what. There are things living at the bottom that are very dangerous that might hurt someone." She whispered sadly, "it's best left untouched until someone comes around that can kill the monsters inside and rid it of its evil."

"There is no one who can save the well?" he sounded worried

"Child, it is just a well! It will not hurt anyone any time soon." She continued to embroider the mess of cloth in her lap.

"What is that anyways?" sheik asked sitting on his cushion.

"It's your late birthday present." She said. This surprised sheik because she had never given him anything before. "It's the only one you will ever get from me. It will match those Sheikah-Style suits your mother works so hard on, not to mention help you with your training."

"More training? But just got my eyes, I won't need more training yet will I?" he sounded more exhausted than he really was

"Of course you will…you 'just got your eyes' and you're ready to give up?" she contradicted him. "Ah! All done." She bit the string after hastily teeing it. "It should fit you for a while. I made sure it would have a lot of growing room."

It was a tunic with a high collar made of rough cotton. Aunt Minna's embroidery was perfect, the blues and reds were evenly woven together. The red was an eye with a large tear, and the blue surrounded the design.

"Now that you have your eyes you can where this with pride. I will make sure it won't be destroyed." She said proudly.

"But Aunt Minna, it's just cloth, how can it never break?" sheik asked in confusion.

"That's my second gift, sheik. I can't protect things, people, and places. But I can't fight things very well, like I could when I was younger." She said proudly. "I was just as strong as my daughter, Impa, thirty years ago."

"That's a long time ago, Aunt Minna!" he said, mildly surprised. "But what's my second gift? How did you know yours?"

"You have to find that out on your own. All I can tell you is that it will come to you when you most want it and it will be unique to you, it will be made to suit you alone."

"Something that's only mine." Sheik whimpered to himself.

**BOOM**

It was that sound that woke sheik in the middle of the night. It sounded like breaking stones and…

He heard screams. He smelt burning. There was a sizzle on the air. An altogether eerie feeling hit him.

Something was terribly wrong.

He rose out of bed and pulled on the first clothes he could find. He was about to walk out the door when he heard horse hoofs coming down the steps from Death Mountain. He didn't move an inch until the sound faded out.

He opened the door slowly and peeked out. He choked on his own air. He saw something he hoped to forget. The guard that took the night shift at death mountain gate, he was burned into something that didn't even look like it was ever human.

Sheik was terrified.

But even his fright wasn't enough to make him stop from seeing what was disturbing the village. He needed to go get Aunt Minna and warn her. Mama wouldn't be able to help anyways, who ever it was, wasn't going to come back this way.

So sheik crept out of the house and down the stairs. He jumped onto the houses roof that was at the base of the steps. He climbed up so he could see over to the middle of town. There was a man on a black stallion. The man was wearing a dark cloak that covered most of his face. He was very tall and very buff. He trotted into the graveyard.

The second he was out of sight, sheik was dashing to Aunt Minna's house, stumbling up the stairs. Sheik shut the door behind him the second he got in, and ran over to her bedside.

"Aunt Minna!" he whispered as load as possible, shaking her shoulder, raising her from her sleep. "There's a strange man in the graveyard! He killed the guard at the mountain gate! We have to hide! Before he gets us!"

Aunt Minna woke up the second he said graveyard. She knew the great sheikah secret that laid in the graveyard. She had to save the village, no matter what!

"Sheik you need to run and hide in the skulltula house, it's the last place he would look for you. You cannot be seen! Don't worry, all will be well in the end, I'll keep every one safe. I promise." She pushed him out of the house with out even waiting for him to say anything.

He stumbled all the way to the skulltula house and slid into the creepy house.

Aunt Minna had told him that the skulltla's that lived in the house were actually people that were cursed, and that they would never hurt anyone.

He stared worriedly out the small crack in the door, looking at Aunt Minna's house from behind. He heard a hard gallop coming from the graveyard. He was surprised when he heard the gallop come to a halt. He heard yelling coming from the man on the horse. He didn't hear Aunt Minna saying anything. The man didn't stop yelling.

Evil laughter

**BOOM**

As the 'boom' hit, Aunt Minna's hut exploded.

He didn't know what was gong on but he knew something was very wrong, so he cried. Trying to keep all these feelings in was useless. He sobbed silently, not sure if he was just worried or mourning.

And then there was the galloping again, but this time it rode out of town. No sign of coming back.

Sheik peeked out of the house, and once he was sure 'he' was gone. He ran to where Aunt Minna's house used to be.

There was a large space on the ground where grass had been burned to less than ashes. All he could find in the blood soaked soil was burnt wood and a tunic. The very same tunic that Aunt Minna had finished making and embroidering the day before. It wasn't destroyed just like Aunt Minna said it wouldn't be. It was frayed around the arms and the waist but it was still very much intact.

He held the slightly damaged cloth to his chest as he knelled in the spot where her hut used to be, and cried. The sobs came out like hiccups and the tightening in his chest felt like he was dying. His tears were once again red, only shades lighter than the burned blood splattered around him.

Aunt Minna didn't lie, she protected everybody, she protected the village, but she forgot herself.

As he sobbed he picked himself up, and walked over to the well, which was still glowing a blues and grays.

Coming from the windmill e head the faint notes of a long familiar song. The sound always haunted this side of town, yet he wanted it to stop. It hurt him to think that things could stay the same after this. He looked down to the well. 'Was she protecting this? This curse to our village? What a waste! Why Aunt Minna? Why can't someone come and fix the curse placed on this village? Why us? Why Aunt Minna?'

Sheik screamed with the most rage and pain he had ever felt in his life.

Deep inside him, something broke, and a rush of power rushed forward. The power spilled from his vocals as he lamented his beloved tutor with the song of storms. He could control the song as much as he could control his own body, it bent to his will. It twisted and changed to a minor key. He folds it molding to his emotions. Rain stared to fall in time with his own tears.

As the rain to fell from the sky, the song, the windmill and the well entwined, magically connected forever by the pain of tears.

Sheik's voice cracked as the rain poured down from above. He fell into the fresh mud in front of the well, spent from using the energy he didn't know existed. The world went black, like falling asleep, but too fast.


	3. The Gift That Was Made To Suit Him Alone

The Destiny Of Shadows

By Luckycharms88

Chapter Two

The Gift That Was Made To Suit Him Alone 

"Sheik! You're going to be late getting to your lessons if you don't leave soon!" Sheila bristled at her son, furious.

"I know Mama!" he yelled back, equally furious with his mother.

He angrily threw cloths into his bag, then placing all his numerous instruments with his music in with the utmost care. Even his fury towards him mama couldn't make him be angry at his music. His music was his savior.

He placed his bundle of fruit and bread that was to last him the day on top of all of his other belongings. He suddenly remembered what he was forgetting, and ducked under his bed pulling out his shirt from its safekeeping.

"I don't see why you keep that rag you found, I can make you a better shirt with embroidery just as good" Sheila said to her son grumpily.

"It's special to me and I wont find anything that can compare to it." He said, with a tone of finality to his voice. He slipped on his shoes and dark blue hat. "I'm leaving!" he said dashing out the door pack over his shoulder.

"Good bye!" he faintly heard his mother call. He ran down the steps, hoping to make up time by running. He almost didn't see the new building being built where baa-Chan's house used to be. "They sure started building fast, as though it as a blessing that she…" he muttered to himself.

No one could explain what happened. Some had heard bumps in the night, some had even peaked out there doors to see what the matter was, but no one would believe his story.

He had woken up the following morning in front of the well, dirty and confused. He had thought at first it was something the masochistic side of his mind had created, but alas it was real. Most of the blood and ash had been washed away from the rain, but burnt debris were still present and on the side of town with the guardsman, there were still identifiable parts of his body there.

"A slaughter!" or "truly terrible!" they had said, but not a soul rose to investigate the reason as to why, or how. And when he offered his story, the claimed that he must have been driven crazy by the loss of his tutor. They called him delusional!

After that he hadn't talked very much to anyone, if they didn't want to know then he wouldn't tell them. The entire village thought that he was going crazy. His silence had isolated him from the rest of the village.

Of course his mother wasn't very happy with her son being the talk of the town in that respect, so was upset with him. He didn't care whether or not his mother was pleased with him anymore, it didn't matter to him.

But he was escaping this madness for a few weeks. He was going to stay with his sensei for three weeks to hone his technique on all of his instruments. Now that ba-… now that he wasn't taking Sheikah lessons he had more time for music lessons.

His sensei, Gabriele, was a relative of his father. Gabriele was about thirty years old. He shared the dark golden locks with his cousin, but that's where the resemblances stopped. He was not very tall, lanky almost and very bookish looking. He had a rather bleak attitude most of the time, rather stoic even. Only music could make him show emotion it seemed. He took music very seriously, which was very hard to handle as a child, but now the feeling was mutual.

Gabriele had never married so he had no family in his discreetly large house; only an old cook and young man who tended the stables lived in his house with him. He treated his 'help' like equals, and he didn't treat sheik any differently. Sheik thought that this was amazing for a man of his social standing.

Sheik had just made it out to Hyrule field, passing over the bridge. He still had another hour of walking to do. It was going to be a long walk.

"Dwell on the notes! Your rushing through them like everyone doesn't matter! They are all important!" Gabriele shouted at Sheik.

Sheik sighed. He had been staying at his uncles for a week now, and he was already ready to leave. Even though his playing was improving, it made him ashamed that after all his practice he still wasn't getting everything right.

"Enough! I can't take it anymore!" sensei threw his hands up in disappointment. "It's time for dinner anyways. Go wash up." Gabriele lifted himself from his chair and gracefully left out of the room.

"I'll never get this serenade" sheik said to his music sitting on the stand. His only friend yet stills an enemy.

He dragged himself out of the room, spent and more than ready for a meal.

Gabriele had started teaching sheik on his father's insistence when sheik turned five. As it was family tradition and Tobias wanted the best for his son, illegitimate or no, he agrees to tutor him. He had asked Tobias repeatedly for months about whom he had this child with. It was obvious that the boy was of Sheikah decent. But he didn't know where Tobias would have met a girl like that.

It wasn't until one day when he visited Tobias' mansion, when he was to see Tobias about the payment for his son's lessons that he found out.

Tobias' wife Gwendolyn was having a fit, over what he would never be sure. Her screams about not buying his daughters nice dresses turned to something much more painful. "If it was something for that son of yours you would pay anything, wouldn't you? You would give that freak of a runt h world before you thought of your family!" she was in hysterics.

Tobias couldn't hold it in anymore, "yes I would! Because none of you are my family! Sheila and sheik are my family and I love them more than I will ever love you!" he saw Gwendolyn with tears in her eyes. "And don't you say that you love me! You know that this is only a marriage of convenience, and that you turned a blind eye to Sheila and me for years before you could not deny it any longer."

It was then that Gwendolyn burst out of the room, crashing into him and continuing her stampede down the hall as soon as she gained footing.

"So that's his mother's name," Gabriele muttered "you didn't tell me so it wouldn't get out." He stated, not bothering with questions.

Tobias, usually strong and full of courageous, was defeated. "Please don't tell any-"

"Have you ever known me to be so shallow?" he cut him off, helping himself to a chair in Tobias' study, which was easily the size of his own dining room.

"Thank you for your silence. But I warn you, the boy doesn't know, and won't for a while."

"I didn't expect he would, he is only five." Gabriele said wistfully 'I wonder if the poor boy will ever know…'

"You don't have to be so tough on him, he's only eleven" Peter said, leaning on the bit of table that was left next to Gabriele, breaking his train of thoughts

"Passion won't grow in soil fertilized with needless compliments," he said with an omniscient air. "He may be my beloved nephew but he still needs a firm hand to help him learn"

"He's not the only one who needs a firm hand," he ran a calloused hand through sensei's thick straw-colored locks to massage the nape of his neck. He started to untie sensei's elbow length hair, when sensei's firm grip stopped him.

"However hw doesn't need to be so firmly handled that he is mentally scarred yet. After all, he's only eleven." He said, pushing peter away, ending any chance of before dinner passion. Peter sat, resigned, at the other side of the table.

'Well there's always after dinner, he's never resisted then…'

Sheik rushed to dinner, refreshed from washing his face and resting his hands in the water basin. They ached more than ever before. He slowed down as he came to the dining room. It was a rather spacious room with a long table that could seat a dozen people. He was awed by the spaciousness of every room in the house, even after seeing it semi-regularly for six years. He didn't know that his father had such rich connections.

Sheik slid into his chair on the side of the table, sitting up straight like his mama always told him to do at his uncle's house. He sat silently and waited until everyone was seated at the table, even the cook. Throughout the meal everyone made small chatter, with the least comments made by Gabriele and the most made by the outgoing stable-hand, peter.

This was sheik's favorite part of the day; for once he could be calm.

"I'm going to the market, don't worry I'll be back by dinner." Sheik informed peter as he left. It was his day off from lessons and practice, so he intended to make the most of it.

"I won't worry as long as I don't have any reason to. You'd better not get into any trouble down in the market, hear me?" He joked to sheik

Sheik ignored his mocking and made his way down the hill to the market. But instead of venturing into the market, he turned left to go to the temple of time courtyard.

No one ever went to the temple of time unless it was a day of worship, which was rare. So he had the courtyard all to himself for practice. Yes more practice but not in music. He made his way to the 'gossip stones.'

Gossip stones were placed all throughout Hyrule as a guarding system for the royal family. They were rarely used now, because of the sheikah shortage, but they were still useful I many ways. When touching a gossip stone, a Shiekah can see both what the stone has seen and use it as reference for flash travel.

Flash travel was easy with gossip stones, which was why it was the only kind he had used so far. When using gossip stone travel he had to touch the top of the gossip stone he was coming from and he would end u at the closest gossip stone to where he was trying to go. He had not learned stone-les travel yet, but he planned to go see send a letter to Impa so he could ask for her help. After all she was Baa-Chan's daughter, maybe she could teach him.

Sheik stopped his train of thought to concentrate on practice; he needed to get this form of flash travel down so that he could finally move on to something harder.

He had been traveling between the stones that were in the temple of time courtyard for an hour when he touched a stone to see if he could feel something farther away. He 'felt' a stone that was about an hours walk away. He concentrated on the new stone while raising his arm. He let his arm drop and hit the top of the stone, and pushed.

He was suddenly on a grassy ledge, overlooking the castle gate, still in the crouching position he had been in on the other rock. He rose slowly from the position, worried about alerting the guards.

He heard a stampeding horse coming down the road. Suddenly, it came to a halt at the gate. He crept over to the edge to peek down at the guards watching the gate.

A white horse had been stopped from leaving the palace. Sheik didn't recognize the younger girl on the horse but he did recognize the older woman on the white mare as Impa, Baa-Chan's daughter. She was just as tall and strong as he was told. Her silver hair was tied back in a tight knob at the nape of her neck, and her traditional Sheikah bodyguard armor was immaculate. But her usually calm features, that were so much like baa-Chan, were contorted with anger and frustration.

"Please open the gate, the princess needs to leave the grounds" impa said with persistence.

"I'm sorry she can't leave without a note from the king, please go get one." The guard said mechanically

"We can't get one now, we must leave!" Impa shouted with frustration. She glanced up the road warily, like she was looking for someone.

He could see that a darkly cloaked man was leaving the castle on a black stallion, making his way down the road slowly, nodding to all the guards. He resembled that man that came to Kakariko about a month ago! What if he was after Impa! Impa said that that girl was the princess, which meant that the princess of Hyrule was in danger! He had to do something!

Before thinking he ran to the gate wall and he saw a ladder leading down into the castle walls. He quickly climbed down and looked around. In the small room there was a switch that he guessed must be to the gate. He pulled with all his weight on the leaver. It wouldn't move for a moment, but then started to move and the gate with it.

He climbed up the ladder as fast as he could and when he got to the ledge he ran as fast as he could to the gossip stone. As he raised his arm to travel back to the temple of time, he caught the gaze of Impa as he saw her wink at him as she and the princess galloped down the road.

Sheik had to hold back his happiness so he could concentrate on getting back to the temple safely.

Sheik walked into Gabriele's house before sundown. He went straight home because he was worried that "that man" might do something. Impa and the princess wouldn't be in the market for at least an hour, the road between the castle and the market was long, because along the road were all the nobles large mansions, with equally ample courtyards. He wouldn't be caught by anyone that might have seen him.

He went up the stairs to his room and washed up for dinner. He hadn't done much real work but the sweat he worked up training was enough for him to need to wash up. After washing his face and hands, he started down the hall with a trudge.

Sheik was worried; he didn't know whether or not he should tell the other members of the house about what happened up at the castle. He thought that they might all be in some kind of danger. He didn't know who that man was or what he was doing to Hyrule but it couldn't be safe for anyone. But what if they don't believe me?

He walked slowly to the dining room, brooding on what to do. 'I should tell them, even if they think I'm lying. It's best that they know what I saw.' He thought, resolving his problem.

Sheik entered the dining room to find a surprise at the head of the table. He had seen mama and papa kiss before and he had heard about boys and girls kissing in the village. Mama had said that kisses from your sweetheart were special. He had never kissed anyone like that before, so he didn't know what it was like. But he did know that this kind of kiss was different from all the other kinds of kisses he knew about.

It was two boys kissing. No, two men kissing. It was different, it was exotic, and it was beautiful. Their hands clasped each other, their eyes locked to each other, their bodies melted into each other, How Peter leaned over Gabriele in an gentle arc, how Gabriele tilted his head just so to face Peter, how their lips met softly yet passionately.

Sheik gasped, surprising the couple. They jumped away from each other, but still knowing it was to late for him not to see. Sheik blushed brightly and stuttered an apology and ran back up the stairs to his room.

Gabriele glared exhaustedly at peter; "I told you not to disturb my nephew!" his shout came halfheartedly.

Sheik stared into the small mirror in his room, a luxury he didn't have at his own house. His normally neatly brushed chin-length locks were tousled from his quick flight. His intense scarlet eyes were wide, and his cheeks were only succeeded in hue by the former. Heavy puffs of air were bursting from his carnation pink lips.

He wanted to be kissed like that, not with the shyness of the teens in his village, not with the bored absent-mindedness of his parents, but with that passion that they had. He wanted to be kissed by a...

He touched his own lips. Is that what he wanted? To kiss a...boy?

His reflection showed his face flushing to match his eyes at the thought.

"He not going to come out for a while the least we could do is continue..." peter said encouragingly. "After all he left so we could have time alone."

Gabriele gave him a look that threatened a fate wore than death, celibacy. He was about to get up to go get sheik when he came down the stairs as though nothing had happened. He walked into the dining room and sat at his place.

The food was already on the table, waiting to be eaten. The cook had already eaten her share and gone to bed, so at the table it was only the three of them. They all began to eat the slightly cooled food.

"Sheik, I... we didn't mean for you to see..." Gabriele had trouble getting the word out. He and peter didn't often tell others about their relationship. Tobias knew, but no one else in his family. Peter had told his family, but after that had never spoken to them again. Gabriele didn't know what to expect from this eleven-year-old boy.

"It's fine" sheik let out before he finished. "I don't mind, it's not like I haven't seen papa kiss mama," sheik reasoned. "I just wasn't expecting it, sorry."

The last thing Gabriele would have expected was the boy to forgive him, let alone apologize. He was about to say that it wasn't sheik's fault when he started to talk to talk again.

"But there is something I saw when I went out today that I think might be a big problem." Sheik said sounding very serious. Sheik told Gabriele and Peter everything that happened up at the castle. He was not ashamed that he broke the rules to save the princess and Impa, so he had so problem telling them.

"A 'man in black' was coming down the road behind them? Isn't that a bit stereotypical, to be scared of a man wearing all black?" Gabriele said thoughtfully. All food at the table was forgotten

"He wasn't any man! He was the one that...I was there! I don't know his face but I know that horse and I know that cloak." Sheik suddenly got very quiet. He didn't want to talk about that night in Kakariko.

"Sheik..." peter said gently, trying not to force sheik. Peter was usually very lively, but now was not the time for laughter and smiles. He knew that the only way to make this better was to talk about it. "Sheik, how do you know that cloak? Where have you seen this man before?"

Sheik, trying to hold back his pain, froze up. "In the village, a month ago..." he said softly, hoping no one would hear, yet wanting everyone to know. He wiped away the tear that threatened to fall down his cheek, trying to make himself unaware of the pain.

"Sheik... what did-" peter tried to coax him, before getting cut off.

"He killed her...she was gone...all gone!" he started to mutter between sobs, with no tears carving streams down his face. "The only thing left...was my tunic...the one she made me... and I... I sang...why did I sing...but then... it rained...like a gift from the goddesses...it washed the pain away..." sheik spoke softly.

Gabriele was startled, "you sang, and the rain washed the pain away?" 'If this is true sheik might...he might be...' Gabriele thought with excitement.

"Yes, I sang and it-rained, I don't know how or why, but-it did!" sheik hiccupped

Gabriele waited until sheik stopped sniffling and his sobs were over before starting on the " sheik do you know what this means?" sheik looked at him as though he was insane. "Sheik, I don't think your father ever told you about our family's heritage." From across the table Gabriele took sheik's hand. "Many years ago, as the kingdom of Hyrule was just being started, there were two brothers that loved music very much. They had traveled to Hyrule from a country called Terminia, were they had been made famous, writing songs for the kingdoms of each race in that country, they decided it was time to move to another country, so they came to Hyrule where they wrote songs for the king of Hyrule.

"The brothers wrote music for the king and eventually decided to stay in Hyrule, for they had both married while they were here. They settled here in Hyrule with their growing families until their dying days. So to this day, their genius musician blood runs in our veins." Gabriele said proudly.

By now sheik had pulled himself together, and was able to ask questions. "So I got my harp from them, right? But why was their music so special? How could they be so popular with so many races in different places?"

"They could set magical powers into songs. Nobody knows how they did it but there are songs that only the royal family knows that to this day have magical powers." At sheik's eyes widening he quickly said, "of course these songs are kept very secret, only royalty and royal messengers know any of the tunes. They are kept top secret, it could be dangerous if they were not."

Sheik looked understanding, but still wanted to know these magical songs. "So are you trying to say that the song of storms, is a magical song? But it never called a storm before that night, so how could it be a magical song?" sheik questioned, "unless, your saying that..."

"You might have caused it to be magical, sheik," Gabriele answered. "It's in your blood, but how it came back to the surface so far along in the bloodline is beyond me." He stopped, wondering, before continuing, "but it will be something that is unique to you alone sheik."

Hearing those words jogged Sheik's memories to remember what Aunt Minna had said to him that day before the attack.

"You have to find that out on your own. All I can tell you is that it will come to you when you most want it and it will be unique to you, it will be made to suit you alone"

"I wanted it so bad... a release... and I got it" sheik said piecing together the reason for his strange episode.

"Sheik?" peter asked hesitantly, "What are you talking about?" he was worried about sheik; this was the second time this evening that he had started to act strange.

"The song, the magic, it's my second gift."

But he couldn't be sure just yet.

Sheik was with Gabriele and Peter in the music room. He was about to play the song of storms on his harp. Gabriele was sitting on his bench in front of his small piano, with Peter behind him, hands on his shoulders.

'If this really works...I'll have found my second gift... like Aunt Minna said, something for me alone.' He had decided to use his golden harp for this occasion, if he was right it would be a milestone in his life. It was the harp of his ancestors, so it might be interlaced with some of their magical powers.

He started to strum the melody on his harp, his skilled fingers plucking at the taut strings, freshly tuned. The soft sound echoed in the room as he started the second round of the simple tune. On the third round he started to sing the sad tune, accompanying himself on the harp, playing thirds and fifths above his own voice.

Gabriele watched his pupil perform for him and his lover, as though they were not there. He could feel a force in the tune that Sheik had never shown with any other music, even his own compositions, he had never shown this passion. Then he felt the power behind the passion hit him.

It was at that moment that Sheik felt a power flow out of him, flying away on the notes that flew out the window, into the market, into they sky.

Then he knew.

Dark clouds gathered over the market as a horse galloped through, without paying them any notice.

As the two figures on the horseback made their escape, rain spilled from the black clouds.

Behind them, a man as dark as the clouds in the sky trailed.

He was more than a bad omen, he was a curse.


End file.
